12 October 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here in Canada it is a long weekend being the Canadian Thanksgiving celebrations. It is held earlier in the "Great White North" on the 2nd Monday in October. If you want to read the history and understand the difference between the Canadian and American Thanksgiving feel free to enter here.

In the meantime is there anything...ANYTHING at all that is so universally well known as Canadian as the Butter Tart???????????? The country is divided about what a butter tart should be. Is it gooey or custardy???? This recipe is not a traditional butter tart recipe due to fact that it uses maple syrup..but it is more in the "custardy" camp than "gooey". I love both types...it does not matter to me as long as it has nuts and raisins....I am there!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am entering this traditional Canadian fare into my blog sister Ivy's event this month Sweet Pies . Ivy is my adopted sister from Kopiaste blogging out of Athens, Greece. Last months Savory Pies event was such a huge success so on to the SWEETS!!!! " Phyllo in Greek, means a sheet (in this case a sheet of pastry) which will be used with the filling of your choice. " Ivy and I have become good friends over the past year with a love for Greek food and trying new and innovative dishes. I wouldn't miss her event for the world!!!!!

Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for all our blessings. I give thanks for friends and family. L'il Burnt Toast and I celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday with a luncheon at St. Hubertus Winery. It was a part of the Okanagan Fall Wine Festival which is a 10 day event listed as one of the Top 100 Things to do In North America. We dined with many locals and tourists alike and sat beside an entourage from Mexico City who were touring our area and writing for a travel magazine. I am spending the afternoon with some friends who have invited me for the traditional turkey feast at their place. As my contribution I am bringing these tarts (and a bottle of wine of course)...after all who has room for dessert after all that turkey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you want to try a typically Canadian treat go for a Butter Tart!!!!!!!!!!!! My friends daughter does not enjoy pastry so I opted for making half with puff pastry instead.... oh mon ça alors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A little history.....The English Canadian tart consists of butter, sugar and eggs in a pastry shell, similar to the base of the U. S. pecan pie without the nut topping, and similar to the French-Canadian sugar pie. Additional ingredients can include raisins, pecans, walnuts, coconut, dates, butterscotch, chocolate chips or peanut butter. Butter tarts were a staple of pioneer Canadian cooking, and they remain a characteristic pastry of Canada, considered one of only a few recipes genuinely Canadian quoted from the 6th edition of the Collins English Dictionary. One of the earliest known Canadian recipes is from northern Ontario and dates back to 1915.

Similar tarts are made in Scotland, where they are often referred to as Ecclefechan butter tarts from the town of Ecclefechan; and in France where they are related to tarte à la frangipane which includes ground almonds.

Butter tarts are said to have been a favourite treat of Canada's first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald.

Bake in centre of 350F (180C) oven until filling is set and pastry is golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Run thin knife blade around edges to release tarts. Let cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Transfer to rack; let cool. They can be stored in single layer in airtight container at room temperature for 1 day.

33 comments:

Val, Happy Thanksgiving! We will celebrate tomorrow. I will be with my two sons. DH is in Africa and DD is in Ottawa. I miss them. Love your pies for the Sweet Pies Event. Hope your day is as Sunny as ours.

Happy Thanksgiving Val! I hope you and lil' Burnt Toast enjoy the festivities. I love ANY pie with butter (they're a little more indulgent aren't they?). The maple butter is a lovely sweet combo...lovely! (with a cuppa!)

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you had a wonderful celebration. These tarts certainly are worth celebrating. I really enjoyed learning more about the different country's take on sweets, and I think if I tried this tart, I would cease talking and just eat, eat, eat it! YUM!

Hey there,Canadian Friend! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! Your butter tarts recipe sound so yummy! I will be making them today and bringing them to my German class tonight. I've been living in Germany for the past two years with hubby and there are times when I'm homesick (like today). Thanks for putting a smile on my face. :-) Have an awesome day! Greetings from Germany.

Hi there, Canadian Friend! Happy Thanksgiving! Your recipe for butter tarts sounds yummy and I will be baking them today. I will bring them to my German class tonight - my way of celebrating Thanksgiving here in Germany. I've been living in Germany for the past 2 years and sometimes I am homesick (like today). Thanks for sharing a classic and have a wonderful holiday!

Happy belated Thanksgiving wishes Val. I hope you and Erin had a lovely time. Thanks for giving the link as actually I did not know that in Canada you celebrated earlier nor did I know the difference. I have always said to my family that it's a pity we do not have a similar celebration in Greece as we should all be grateful for what we have. Thanks for the lovely pie.

Happy Thanksgiving! Sounds like you had a lovely weekend. These look very good and they seem easy enough. I think I will try them later in November when I have Thanksgiving here (my son's 2nd birthday falls on Thanksgiving here this year so we'll have a double celebration!). Thank you so much for sharing this sweet treat!

well happy thanksgiving to you and all your fellow canadians! can i be an honorary canadian for the week so i can celebrate too? :)great, great, great tarts. they look delectable, and i'm sure they are.

Hey there, Canadian Friend! It's me,Rosa, from Germany. I just baked the butter tarts and they are so delicious! I'm eating a warm one now (couldn't wait). They don't sell prepared pie crust here so I made a butter crust, and I didn't have raisons so I used coconut instead (that's all I had in the pantry). Thanks for sharing a Canadian classic!!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. It has been a gorgeous weekend with wine and more wine.Hope your weather improves Marie:DI hope your girtls get a chance to enjoy this classic Judy:D..back to your Canadian roots:DThe hard cider is coming up Heather:DI can adopt you as an honorary Canadian Grace.welcome... eh:DI am glad you enjoyed the tarts Rosabela....they always remind me of home:D

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving! I'd heard of these butter tarts before from Elizabeth of Blog from OUR Kitchen - I had innocently compared them to the English treacle tart (which really contains no trace of treacle) and ELizabeth set me straight :) They do sound heavenly!

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My blog More Than Burnt Toast has been my passion for almost 9 years and has evolved with me over time as I have gained confidence in the kitchen. Follow my travels through Italy and Greece one recipe at a time, upcoming cooking classes at local Okanagan wineries and restaurants, as well as daily experimentation in my own kitchen. Every day we should be excited about what we are eating even if it just means making use of a wonderful find at our local farmers market. I look forward to getting to know you.